Roasted Duck with Cherry Sauce

Have you signed up yet? Did you start today with meditating? I haven’t yet either. You know what, I’m gonna go do that right now and I’ll be right back…

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Day 2 of Finding Your Flow with Deepak and Oprah is entitled Finding Happiness. “I am the source of unlimited happiness.” Have you ever done a gratitude journal? It’s a great activity, but I like to do it with a friend. Actually, I’m doing it right now: This month a friend and I email each other at the end of the day and list at least 3 things from that day that we’re grateful for. It gets you looking at good things in everyday situations that you might otherwise not put much energy into. It shifts your focus. Today I’ve already been appreciating the birds outside my window, a video link that a friend sent me, and that I actually took time to sleep last night. I like emailing these because a) someone else is holding me accountable and b) I get to see the good things happening in my friend’s life. I try not to list food everyday, even though I am ever grateful for the food in my life.

Just before participating in the meditation this morning I was watching one of my favorite websites. Have you been there yet? www.24hoursofhappy.com It’s a 24-hour music video of Pharrell’s song “Happy“, which was on the “Despicable Me 2” soundtrack. The video is of people dancing to the song. Most people probably get sick of the song after listening to it for a while, but I’ll let you in on a little secret: this song makes me smile. And watching these people dance to it, enjoying dancing in all kinds of random public places – I love it. This site is my pick-me-up when I’m lacking energy or enthusiasm. As I am here typing, I’m listening to it for probably the 10th time in a row, and I’m just beaming. Can’t help but jam to this one. What is your secret weapon when you’re low on positive energy? Tell me in the comments below.

Insert snazzy segue…

Smooth, I know. So Easter weekend, and I get to see my sis, bro-in-law, two adorable nephews, and my folks. Holley and I decided we should do an Easter feature menu, and my sis was jazzed about the idea of trying this this weekend too. So we’re cooking DUCK! I have recently fallen in love with duck and have since been heard to claim “duck is even better than bacon”. Boom! Those words were spoken. Have you cooked with duck fat, my friend? You need to. Wait, did you try yesterday’s omelette as written? No? OK, you probably didn’t have the leftover duck meat to put in there because I hadn’t given you today’s recipe yet. Fair point. Well now you’ll have all the tools you need.

Duck fat is one of the most magical culinary weapons, and a recent discovery of ours. The brine was adapted from Scott Leysath, and the cherry sauce is from Practical Paleo

Author: Raj -www.ThePrimalDesire.com

Ingredients

Brine

½ cup orange juice

4-6 sprigs fresh rosemary

⅓ cup olive oil

¼ cup salt

1 duck

Cherry sauce

¾ cup frozen or fresh cherries

1 sprig of fresh rosemary

Instructions

Roasted Duck

Remove organs, if any are included. (These can be kept for duck stock)

Rough up the rosemary to release the oils (I used a rolling pin) until you can smell the rosemary explosion.

Combine olive oil with orange juice, rosemary, and salt in a Ziplock freezer bag large enough to hold the duck.

Shake it up a bit and then add the duck. Squeeze out extra air, seal bag, and put in fridge for 1.5-2.5 hours.

When ready to cook, preheat oven to 325 F. In a roasting pan, line the bottom with the sprigs of rosemary from the brine, and place duck on top, breast up.

Use a meat thermometer (make sure it's an oven-safe one, not a digital one that you have to keep reaching in to use. That's just a pain). This will save you from guessing if our bird is done - duck is just too good to mess up. Internal temperature should be 165 F. This should take around 60-80 minutes (depending on your bird) - until the skin is brown and crispy.

If you need to brown up the skin a little more, use the broiler, but for the love of everything good, do not forget about it and burn the skin! If you're busy with side dishes, set a time for every few minutes to check on it. Seriously.

Cherry Sauce

In the meantime, in a sauce pan simmer the cherries and rosemary sprig over medium heat.

Stir occasionally and cook until cherries start to break down.

Remove rosemary.

Mash with a fork, or blend for a smoother consistency.

Set aside until time to spoon over plated duck.

Do not throw any piece of this bird out! I highly recommend making duck stock from the bones and organs, and you must render the fat and try duck cracklings.

About Raj

I’m trained as a pharmacist, but my passion lies in changing people’s mental and physical health through amazing food… and laughter. I’ll laugh at my own jokes even if you don’t.
I love food. Lust may be a more appropriate word. Prepare to get your Paleo-induced drool-on!

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